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In the United States, there has recently been a boom in the use of corn to produce [[ethanol]] as automotive fuel. The result has been a rise in the price of corn, affecting its use for food and livestock feed.<ref>''The New York Times,'' February 2, 2007[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/weekinreview/11egan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=weekinreview&pagewanted=print]</ref>
In the United States, there has recently been a boom in the use of corn to produce [[ethanol]] as automotive fuel. The result has been a rise in the price of corn, affecting its use for food and livestock feed.<ref>''The New York Times,'' February 2, 2007[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/weekinreview/11egan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=weekinreview&pagewanted=print]</ref>
Corn is an interesting plant for studying genetics, because the individual kernels may display phenotypic variation such as color, are numerous, and are conveniently held together on a single cob. In an ear of corn with two colors of kernel, the number of kernels of each color will often display the classic 3:1 Mendelian ratio.
Corn is a good subject for genetic studies. The offspring of a pair of gametes consists of the individual kernels on a single cob. These kernels may display easily observed phenotypic variation such as color. In an ear of corn with two colors of kernel, the number of kernels of each color will often display the classic 3:1 Mendelian ratio.
In 1983, [[Barbara McClintock]] won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for studies of the genetics of corn, specifically her 1948 discovery of mobile genetic elements in the corn genome.
In 1983, [[Barbara McClintock]] won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for studies of the genetics of corn, specifically her 1948 discovery of mobile genetic elements in the corn genome.